China’s President Urges Action in Corruption-Plagued City

China’s president, Xi Jinping, urged officials from Chongqing to step up anti-corruption efforts in their city which has been plagued with high-profile graft scandals over the past ten years, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)The government has attempted to quell corruption in the city to varying success.

The head of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, Wen Qiang, was executed in 2009 for rape, taking bribes, and protecting gangs, according to the BBC.

Other officials, including Wen’s wife, were convicted of related crimes.

Then the head of the Communist Party in the city, Bo Xilai, became embroiled in a corruption scandal beginning in 2011 when his wife murdered British businessman Neil Heywood. Bo was convicted in 2013 of corruption, bribery, and abuse of power, with his case reaching global attention. Bo and his wife are serving life sentences.

Now the city’s new party leader, Sun Zhengcai, is also facing bribery charges.

“If you take your eye of [corruption] for a moment then it’s easy to become polluted,” Xi said according to state media.

“Prevent pillow talk from becoming a fuse for corruption, prevent your children from raising their own banners to illegally seek profit, prevent those around you from dragging you down,” Xi warned the city representatives.

Since Xi’s rise to power in 2012, he has declared a war on corruption in the country. The state-run CCTV reports that 70,000 officials have been investigated since then.

Xi’s influence in the country continues to rise. On Sunday, lawmakers voted to abolish presidential term limits, resulting in the possibility that Xi may be president for life in China.